Seasonal spatial ecology of the wild boar in a peri-urban area

Amendolia, Sara; Lombardini, Marco; Pierucci, Paola; Meriggi, Alberto

doi:10.1007/s13364-019-00422-9

Cited by 19 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In particular, the risk of damage decreases in the fields near the main roads, the rail network and buildings. This condition is mainly due to the disturbance caused both by the vehicular traffic and by the tourist use of the park, because, despite the wild boar is able to colonize peri-urban environments (Cahill et al 2012), wooded habitats are preferred by the species (Merli andMeriggi 2006, Hebeisen et al 2008;Amendolia et al 2019). Fields with complex shape, located within the floodplain are at greater risk of damage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among those species, the wild boar has shown a progressive growth of populations in Europe and worldwide. In many countries, starting from the sixties of last century, the species has re-colonized its historical range, expanding even towards many peri-urban areas (Apollonio et al 2010;Massei et al 2015;Stillfried et al 2017;Castillo-Contreras et al 2018;Gonzalez-Crespo et al 2018;Amendolia et al 2019). Forest expansion is one of the most important factors that favoured the expansion of the wild boar populations (Keuling et al 2009;Servanty et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Factors affecting the crop damage by wild boar (Sus scrofa) and effects of population control in the Ticino and Lake Maggiore Park (North-western Italy)

2021

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Wild boar foraging impacts the crops, pastures, and meadows causing remarkable losses to agricultural income. Protected areas located in plains, such as the Ticino Valley Natural Park, are characterized by the coexistence of important natural habitats and intensive agricultural areas. In the Park, from 2010 to 2017, 49% of the complaints report an event of damage to maize and 43% to meadows. The total expense for reimbursements of the maize amounted to € 439,341.52, with damages concentrated in May, after sowing period and between August and September, during the milky stage of maize. For meadows reimbursements amounted to € 324,768.66, with damage events concentrated in February and March. To reduce damage to crops, the Park administration carried out lethal control of the wild boar population. From 2006 to 2017, the most used control method was culling from hunting hides. In our analysis, we did not find significant relationships between the number of shot boars and the damage amount. The factors that determine the decrease of damage probability to crops are mainly related to human disturbance and the characteristics of the fields. The predictive model of damage risk built comparing damaged and undamaged fields showed a good predictive ability. The population viability analyses showed that it is impossible to obtain a drastic reduction of population with the current harvest rate. By tripling it and focusing on the females and sub-adult a numerical reduction of 50% of the population would be achievable in 7 years and the probability of population survival would be halved in 3 years.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting the crop damage by wild boar (Sus scrofa) and effects of population control in the Ticino and Lake Maggiore Park (North-western Italy)

2021

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“…Ungulates may be attracted to (peri)urban areas (Table 1) because of improved habitat (Fernández et al 2006, Kilpatrick et al 2011), the lack of predators or increased opportunities for feeding (Cahill et al 2012, Castillo‐Contreras et al 2018, Conejero et al 2019). Other causes are the expansion of urban areas into the countryside (Amendolia et al 2019), with rivers and roads acting as the main movement corridors (Stillfried et al 2017b) and hunting restrictions (Sterwart 2011), since hunting is often forbidden in urban areas (Storm et al 2007). Under these circumstances, populations of ungulates have suffered a process of habituation (Geist 2011, Cahill et al 2012) with an absence or decrease in the ‘landscape of fear’ (Stillfried et al 2017a), resulting in a process of semi‐domestication (Mysterud 2010).…”

Section: Methods and Contexts Of Overabundancementioning

confidence: 99%

Wild ungulate overabundance in Europe: contexts, causes, monitoring and management recommendations

2020

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High‐density populations of large ungulates are now widespread. However, the perception of overabundance only appears when it produces a problem for humans, such as a loss of plant diversity, damage to agricultural crops and forestry, ungulate‐vehicle collisions, a nuisance to humans, disease transmission to livestock or changes in habitat for other species. The admissible level of density depends on the ecological and socio‐economic context in which the population is located, and defining this level is important, in order to determine management strategies and actions. We describe the main contexts in which ungulate overabundance occurs in Europe, record the causes of overabundance and evaluate which set of indicators of ecological change is the most appropriate for monitoring and diagnosing overabundance in each scenario. Our review of 318 published papers revealed six contexts of wild ungulate overabundance in Europe (protected areas, hunting areas, forestry, arable farming, livestock farming and [peri]urban areas). In addition to population abundance, four sets of indicators of environmental change could be used to monitor overabundance within these contexts (impacts on habitats, impact on animal performance, increments in diseases and parasite loads, and increments in nuisance to humans). Nine species of ungulate were found to be overabundant. Red deer Cervus elaphus was the species most likely to be overabundant in the contexts of protected areas (detailed in 27% of papers on that context) and hunting areas (38%); roe deer Capreolus capreolus in forestry (28%); wild boar Sus scrofa in arable farming (60%), livestock farming (29%) and (peri)urban areas (38%). Our evidence shows that the diagnosis and monitoring of ungulate population overabundance via indicators of ecological change, and the management actions required to control these undesirable situations, are strongly context‐dependent.

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“…The boar has shown extraordinarily adaptive (and sometimes even pre-adaptive) behaviour, displaying a great capacity to disperse and invade new ecological niches, and an unexpected, bolder attitude. The latter phenomenon has just recently led to some emerging problems, such as incursions into urban areas [78][79][80], which are exacerbating the social intolerance of this ungulate.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Boar War: Five Hot Factors Unleashing Boar Expansion and Related Emergency

Fulgione

Buglione

2022

Land

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The recent and ever-growing problem of boar (Sus scrofa forms including wild boar, hybrid and feral pig) expansion is a very complex issue in wildlife management. The damages caused to biodiversity and the economies are addressed in different ways by the various countries, but research is needed to shed light on the causal factors of this emergency before defining a useful collaborative management policy. In this review, we screened more than 280 references published between 1975–2022, identifying and dealing with five hot factors (climate change, human induced habitat modifications, predator regulation on the prey, hybridization with domestic forms, and transfaunation) that could account for the boar expansion and its niche invasion. We also discuss some issues arising from this boar emergency, such as epizootic and zoonotic diseases or the depression of biodiversity. Finally, we provide new insights for the research and the development of management policies.

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Seasonal spatial ecology of the wild boar in a peri-urban area

Cited by 19 publications

References 42 publications

Factors affecting the crop damage by wild boar (Sus scrofa) and effects of population control in the Ticino and Lake Maggiore Park (North-western Italy)

Factors affecting the crop damage by wild boar (Sus scrofa) and effects of population control in the Ticino and Lake Maggiore Park (North-western Italy)

Wild ungulate overabundance in Europe: contexts, causes, monitoring and management recommendations

The Boar War: Five Hot Factors Unleashing Boar Expansion and Related Emergency

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